Question of the Day

Whose side of the story do you believe?

Overweight toddler to return home

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. A 3-year-old girl who was taken into state custody because she was severely overweight eventually will be returned home under an agreement announced yesterday by a judge.

Anamarie Martinez-Regino has been in the custody of the Children, Youth and Families Department since Aug. 25, when she was 120 pounds and 3 and 1/2 feet tall.

A state social worker had said the girl would die unless she followed a special diet. The state accused the girl's parents of feeding her solid food after a doctor recommended a liquid diet.

Appointees donated to Bush in Texas

AUSTIN, Texas Gov. George W. Bush received $1.4 million in contributions to his gubernatorial campaign from his appointees to state boards and commissions, according to a report released yesterday by a nonprofit group.

The study by Texans for Public Justice deals solely with donations to Mr. Bush's gubernatorial campaigns not his presidential campaign.

It found that 413 appointees Mr. Bush named to 50 of the most prestigious state boards or commissions contributed to his campaigns from 1995 through 1999.

High court doings are posted on Web

The first eight transcripts of oral arguments before the Supreme Court were added yesterday to the court's rapidly expanded Web site.

The cases involved were heard earlier this month, and retain one peculiarity common to earlier typewritten transcripts in court files. Lawyers are fully identified, but each time a justice speaks the quote is preceded only by the word "Question."

The high court launched its site www.supremecourtus.gov April 17 and averaged 1.6 million documents accessed in each of its first few months.

House votes to create chimp sanctuaries

The United States would establish a network of chimpanzee sanctuaries under a bill passed by the House yesterday.

The sanctuaries would care for animals no longer needed for biomedical research.

The measure, which passed on a voice vote, would allow spending up to $30 million to set up the centers, which would be managed by a nonprofit private entity.

Law professor to replace Glavin

ATLANTA A conservative legal foundation was expected yesterday to name a replacement for its former president, who pleaded guilty to a public indecency charge.

The Southeastern Legal Foundation planned to name Georgia State University law professor L. Lynn Hogue as interim president.

Rape suspect arrested with only DNA warrant

SACRAMENTO, Calif. A Sacramento man has been charged with a 1994 rape in what is believed to be the first arrest in the nation to be made with the use of a warrant that identifies a suspect by his DNA only.

Paul Eugene Robinson, 31, was arrested last month after state computers matched his genetic code to the no-name warrant. He was charged with five counts of sexual assault.

Boy dies, 5 rescued when boat goes down

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. An 8-year-old boy died and his grandmother was critically injured after a pleasure boat hit a sewage pipeline and sank.

The cabin cruiser carrying five adults and the child went down Monday night off the coast of Dockweiler State Beach, just south of Los Angeles. Four of the victims were pulled from the water by nearby boaters.

"They advised the people to jump off the boat and four people did," said Coast Guard Petty Officer Billy Davidson. "But two people … were too scared to jump off."